I personally am very interested in this topic because just over three years ago I had gone in to see my doctor because of abdominal pain. My triglycerides and LDL were high. He thought it might be my gallbladder so I went in for an ultrasound, which revealed that I had a fatty liver.

Fatty liver disease has not been considered a children’s disease, so it’s disturbing to read that children and adolescents are developing it, especially since there are usually few symptoms until the disease has progressed to a more advanced stage of steatohepatitis (aka hepatosteatosis) and scarring has already occurred.

According to the American Heart Association, more than 6 million children in the United States are affected.

The overweight children with NAFLD had significant cardiovascular risk including higher levels of fasting glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL, “bad” cholesterol), triglycerides and higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure than the control group.

NAFLD is the most common cause of liver disease in children and is associated with metabolic syndrome, a clustering of risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. NAFLD is characterized by the presence of oily droplets of triglycerides in liver cells. More than 6 million children in the United States are affected.

NAFLD in overweight children is strongly associated with metabolic syndrome. The association is independent of both body mass index and insulin sensitivity.

Fatty liver disease often has no outward symptoms, which contributes to it going undetected. Although some children will have symptoms such as abdominal pain or fatigue, the majority remain symptom-free until the disease is in very advanced stages.

Since 2003, substantial new informationhas emerged in children on the clustering of obesity, insulinresistance, inflammation, and other risk factors and their collectiverole in conveying heightened risk for cardiovasculardisease and type 2 diabetes. A constellationof these interrelated cardiovascular risk factors in adultshas come to be known as the metabolic syndrome.

Risk Factors for Metabolic Syndrome
The AHA lists heredity, ethnic differences, and lifestyle behaviors such as TV watching behavior, physical activity, and dietary intake, but does not discuss the possible role of other environmental factors)

Steinberger J, Daniels SR. Obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes and cardiovascular risk in children: an American Heart Association scientific statement from the Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and Obesity in the Young Committee (Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young) and the Diabetes Committee (Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism). Circulation. 2003; 107: 1448–1453.[Free Full Text]

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)

Once considered an illness of adults over 40, more and more children are being diagnosed with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). NAFLD can be a precursor to NASH, which can progress to cirrhosis.

When complications such as cirrhosis cannot be controlled with treatment or when the liver becomes so damaged from scarring that it completely stops functioning, a liver transplant is necessary.

Both NASH and NAFLD are becoming more common, possibly because of the greater number of Americans with obesity. In the past 10 years, the rate of obesity has doubled in adults and tripled in children. Obesity also contributes to diabetes and high blood cholesterol, which can further complicate the health of someone with NASH. (From the NASH page on the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) website.)

In case you’re wondering what I did after my diagnosis…

At the ultrasound the technician had said, “Your gallbladder is fine, but you have a fatty liver.” The way she said it made it sound like it was more than just a casual observation, so when I got home I did a quick search on the National Library of Medicine’s website, where I found a lot of information about NAFLD. (I’m not a teetotaler, but I don’t drink much.)

The progression from NAFLD to NASH to cirrhosis to needing a liver transplant or you die got my attention. Even before I got the formal diagnosis from my doctor I changed my diet (I started eating fish, raisins, and nuts, as well as more fruit, nuts, raisins, whole grains, leafy green vegetables, and fiber (even tried quinoa); and fewer sugar-sweetened drinks) and lots more exercise. I dropped about twenty pounds in four months and, more importantly, my triglyceride level dropped a lot.

I had relapsed a bit since then, but after viewing Dr. Lustig’s presentation on the effects of fructose (and having done some follow up reading on the topic) I have once again cut back on sugar consumption and have started working out more regularly once more.